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Metabo never even made it around here, they didn't even give it a fighting chance.

I wonder if they have certain stores that represent their test market and if things don't do well there they never hit the shelves in the other stores. It's too bad too, I think they would have eventually taken off.

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I still don't think metabo should have ever attempted Lowes. Lowe's is a very homeowner oriented hardware store and Metabo is not a homeowner tool. That and they wouldn't have even stocked any of the tools that I would want. I like it how it is locally. They sell Metabo at places where guys that would use metabo would actually regularly go, aka the industrial/welding supply store. Most major industrial companies purchasing agents won't ever go near a Lowes. They're going to go into the industrial suppliers and set up an account and get themselves setup with regular deliveries and then when they need a tool they make one call and the next delivery has a dozen metabo grinders.

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I still don't think metabo should have ever attempted Lowes. Lowe's is a very homeowner oriented hardware store and Metabo is not a homeowner tool. That and they wouldn't have even stocked any of the tools that I would want. I like it how it is locally. They sell Metabo at places where guys that would use metabo would actually regularly go, aka the industrial/welding supply store. Most major industrial companies purchasing agents won't ever go near a Lowes. They're going to go into the industrial suppliers and set up an account and get themselves setup with regular deliveries and then when they need a tool they make one call and the next delivery has a dozen metabo grinders.

Lowes has been known to do some goofy stuff... I bought a a fair amount of Knipex when they were closing it out. Seriously, expensive German pliers at Lowes?

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I've just bought into 18v Metabo. I don't have much at the moment but so far a W18 LTX 125 brushed angle grinder, AG 18 compact blower, one 6.2ah LiHD battery and the ASC 30-36 charger.

The grinder is top quality and also made in Germany with a quick nut and tool-less guard adjustment. Very, VERY smooth running and really nice to use. One review that I came across online rated this brushed grinder better in power and runtime than the Milwaukee brushless. With the 6.2ah LiHD battery I get about 10 minutes of non-stop grinding and cutting and it feels about the same as a 600-700W corded. I imagine their new brushless version would improve on this.

The blower is very similar to the Milwaukee, Dewalt and Makita offerings. It is made in China. The build quality is noticeably lower than that of the made in Germany grinder. There is no lock-on trigger feature and no inflator attachments, which are negative points imo. However, the run-time with the LiHD is great!

The charger will fully charge the 6.2ah LiHD battery from almost empty (one bar remaining and flashing) to full in 90 minutes. Quite slow compared to Makita and Hitachi chargers. I believe they have an Ultra charger which cuts this time down to 45 minutes (not available in Australia yet).

I don't have any of the normal 5.2ah batteries but the claims from Metabo are that their tools will have more power when using LiHD (even the older tools). I am hoping this will translate into their 18v reciprocating saw when I expand over the next few weeks. I will also purchase the SSW 18 LTX 200 brushed impact wrench (3 speed 210nm).